I Was Joan of Arc

©2008 by Annabelle A. Udo

Chevron Gas Prices o' the Day (19th Avenue)
$4.55
$4.67
$4.79

Ka-chunka chunka,cough cough, hack, hack!. . .and the virtual gypsy spat out my evaluation: "You were Joan of Arc in a past life! Of all of your past lives, Joan was your most prominent. If your dreams are ever filled with faint visions of conquests, armor, fighting, horseback riding, sword fights, masses of people, and quiet studying, these are glimpses into a world once occupied by your 'vessel'. Cherish your past life and invigorate your current one knowing that you embody greatness in all that you do."

Hump Day Chatter

©2008 by Annabelle A. Udo

Chevron Gas Prices o' the Day (19th Avenue)
$4.55
$4.67
$4.79

I am here and you are there with time surrounding us everywhere. The fog covers this old town as if blanketed in cobwebs. Everyone is on holiday to celebrate their independence although gas prices have gone up. And I am one of them. I am intrigued as I discover a treasure trove of 16th century music written by a man named John Dowland. There are still legends among us--diamonds in the ancient dust of time. Must respect our elders. I stumble upon the rough terrain of life--barefoot and tattered--my daily existence is that of a hunter and gatherer in search of peace in a world so full of conflict.

Nurturing the Filipino Diaspora Through Literature

©2007 by Annabelle A. Udo
published in AsianWeek (Week of November 2-8, 2007)


Marie Romero, owner of Arkipelago Books, proudly displays her collection of Filipino literature.

Chevron Gas Prices o' the Day (19th Avenue)
$3.36
$3.48
$3.61

The intersection of 6th and Mission streets seems to straddle San Francisco’s battle with time and architecture. If you were facing South of Market, your nearby east would be made up of the mayhem of bars and grills, the Sony Metreon, and the Westfield Mall; meanwhile, your nearby west would be made up of a mish-mash of parking lots, old brick buildings, and empty metered parking spaces.

Amidst this transitioning neighborhood is Arkipelago Books, a literary diamond in the dust, which is at home in an area where generations of Filipino immigrants first resided in the early 1900’s. Previously located in the Mint Mall which was once a bustling cultural haven for the Filipino community, Arkipelago Books is now just a block away in its new location at 1010 Mission Street in the Bayanihan Community Center. Arkipelago Books is the only bookshop and small-press publisher in San Francisco that offers an extensive selection of works by authors and artists of the Filipino diaspora.

Already in its 14th year, Arkipelago Books’ presence is a strong statement for any small business that survived the dot-com boom/bust of the 1990’s—a challenging time that also displaced many Filipinos who immigrated to the South of Market area many years ago.

"It was a very unsettling experience having gone through that era and with the rivalry of the dot coms, there were several mom and pop operations in the Mint Mall that did have to close down," said Marie Romero, owner of Arkipelago Books. "But having been in business as long as I have and going through that time, I am a testimony of the wealth of Filipinos who continue to enjoy literature. There are many of my customers who are now parents, Filipinos and non-Filipinos, who encourage their kids to read about Filipino culture."

Arkipelago Books has long been committed to the Filipino writers community and has been an inexhaustible resource for anyone hunting and gathering for information about the history, traditions, and culture of the Philippines.

The store’s bookshelves are lined with literature written by prominent Filipino luminaries such as Jose Rizal (“Noli Me Tangere”) and Carlos Bulosan ("America is in the Heart") as well as books about architecture, art, food, history, and linguistics. Additionally, their collection offers the local flavors of Bay Area authors such as Tony Robles ("Lakas and the Manilatown Fish"), Leny M. Strobel ("A Book of Her Own: Words & Images to Honor the Babaylan") and Janet Stickmon ("Crushing Soft Rubies"). The store goes beyond selling books by also offering a wide assortment of handcrafted items from the artisans of the Philippines which include soaps, tapestries, coffee, jewelry, sculptures, ceramics and more. For more information visit www.arkipelagobooks.com.

Flowers for Liza

©2007 by Annabelle A. Udo

Chevron Gas Prices o' the Day (19th Avenue)
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$3.17

I listen to a Bach sonata on this hazy day and reflect when Liza and I met each other at Burning Man in 1997. She sat down next to me as we both shared the comfortable seat of an Igloo cooler. She had a very admirable quality—something so genuinely kind and honest in her compliments. We both laughed at our exhaustion amidst the desert heat—it was roughly the late afternoon and I felt like I had known her for years. A friend of ours realizing that Liza and I didn't know each other, walked up very quickly and said “Annabelle, this is Liza—-Liza, this is Annabelle”, then he walked away and we were alone again on our Igloo. And that was our introduction.

So, today is September 8, 2007, the day that falls on the weekend of the "Power to the Peaceful" concert in Golden Gate Park. Lots of folks who go to Burning Man usually show up which includes the people I went to Burning Man with in 1997. Today is also the day that I found out that Liza passed away last week. We had lost touch with each other over the years so this came as a great shock to me. Coincidentally, the person who had first introduced me to her was also the same person who told me of her death. I hadn't seen him in many years and it seems as if time just came back to me in full circle at that very moment. I was told that she died around the time people were out at Burning Man--approximately 10 years after my first meeting with her. It seems so incomprehensible and this is why I write this piece.

Well, it is said that our life continues to be contained within us even when we die which is why we need to make sure that we transport all our good life’s experiences with us because that’s what we take to Heaven.

I’m so sad to hear of her passing and I shed my tears tonight for Liza because her tremendous soul still remains with me in that way that it does—a positive remnant of someone I never knew well but someone I had a great chance to meet along the way. I hope she is dancing with the spirits that she had always danced with and that she is at peace and knows that she didn’t die alone. I offer Liza a wreath made up of flowers, prayers, music and dance as she takes on a most bold journey.

Casting Off Demons

©2007 by Annabelle A. Udo

Chevron Gas Prices o' the Day (19th Avenue)
$2.91
$3.01
$3.11

We tremble in the passageway of life and pass through this earth as unseen as centuries-old souls walking through tall Spanish monasteries. Droplets of spirits arrive and morph into blue, fragile fairies hopping along the large leaflets of a dark green forest. They glow in the night and visit us in our dreams and we awaken to a new day with bizarre wonderment--sprinkled from the magical dust of angels. Meanwhile, the battlefield of life continues and we armor ourselves with the wisdom of the ages so that we can fight these wars we have been left. The pain in my chest goes away as the tip of my enemy’s sword lowers and this demon retreats into a red fog until all I see is its silhouette...